Judgment Payment Arrangements

Presuming that your judgment debtor agrees to pay off
your judgment, what
is a good location and method of accepting payment?
Ideally, you would
never meet your judgment debtor face to face, after the
judgment was
rendered. They might be rude, or worse.

In general, it is best to get your judgment paid
through the mail to your
post office box. The second best way to get payment on
a judgment, without
seeing your judgment debtor; would be to have your
judgment debtor pay the
clerk of the court at the courthouse. Even these
payment transportation
methods have some drawbacks; examples are "The check is
in the mail", and
the clerk of the court might hold your money for a
certain period of time
before you can get it.

If your judgment debtor insists on meeting you
face-to-face, make sure
this happens at a secure and public place. Do not meet
your debtor at your
house, their house, or a store, or a restaurant. Ideal
places to meet your
judgment debtor are at the courthouse or in the lobby
areas of your local
Sheriff or Marshall. The goal is to take advantage of a
secure location,
however not to involve the staff at the courthouse or
Sheriff's lobby
area, unless you have to.

Make sure your judgment debtor is paying you in full,
because it is too
inconvenient to keep meeting them for partial payments.
Ideally, you would
get paid in full, and that would be that. This article is my
opinion, and not
legal advice. I am a judgment broker, and am not a
lawyer. If you ever
need any legal advice or a strategy to use, please
contact a lawyer.

In the real world, many people enjoy hearing their own
voices. Often,
judgment debtors feel a duty to tell you a bunch of
information that you
do not need to hear. Often, a judgment debtor will
complain about the
original judgment creditor, or tell you they were
burned and do not really
owe any money. Remind the judgment debtor, that what
counts is the judge
decided they owe the money. Let them vent a bit,
however do not let them
wear you down.

What forms of payment should you accept? The first
choice is a cashier's
check from a bank. The bank is one more relatively safe
place to meet your
judgment debtor. And, you can get the advantage of
watching them get their
cashier's check, which almost guarantees that check
will be good. The
second best payment form is a money order, from an
issuer that you
recognize.

The next payment choice is cash. Make sure it is not
counterfeit, and be
sure to provide a receipt, signed by both you and the
judgment debtor,
that lists the amount of cash paid. Make sure you both
get a copy of the
signed receipt. A personal check from your judgment
debtor works too;
however wait a few weeks to be sure that it clears,
before satisfying the
judgment. (Only) after you get paid for sure, promptly
satisfy the
judgment.

What if you can accept credit card payments, or have a
PayPal account? The
fine print on the contracts and agreements of PayPal
and merchant credit
card accounts, usually specify that holders of accounts
cannot take
payments toward satisfying judgments. (Check out
ZenoTools.com)

If your judgment debtor is a business, you can usually
be a bit more
relaxed about getting paid. The larger and more
successful the business,
the more you can relax. If the company is big and
successful, you can meet
with their financial representative in their lobby, and
take a check
without worrying that it will bounce, etc. If the
business is not big and
not successful, then use your best judgment.

Lastly, often judgment debtors will agree to pay you a
specific amount
before meeting you in person, and then try to get a
surprise deal from you
when they meet you in person. This is not fair to you,
and most likely
they could pay you what they first agreed to pay, if
they wanted to. Use
your own judgment in this kind of surprise deal
situation.